Locking device for cigar-cutters.



G. E. HARRISON. LOOKING DEVICE FOR CIGAR OUTTERS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1913.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

2 SHBETS-SHEET l.

1,1 NLQSOO G; E. HARRISON. LOOKING DEVICE FOR CIGAR GUTTERS'.v APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 25, 1913.

1,1 10,930. Patented Sept/15, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2' :rnlllllmh gluuewto'c,

'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. HARRISON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BARCLAY S; PITTENGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR CIGAR-CUTTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

Application filed November 25, 1913. Serial No. 802,962.

will be held against movement into operative relation to the fixed cutting knife until the cigar has been properly positioned on the bed-block of the cutter, and a lineal gage has been moved rearwardly in the act of properly positioning the cigar.

A further object is to operatively connect the locking mechanism for the movable cutting knife with the cigar gage so that it will be impossible to swing the movable cutting knife into operative relation with the fixed knife unless the lineal gage has been moved longitudinally of the said block against the tension of a spring and held in this position during the manipulation of the movable cut ting knife. 30

A still further object is to provide a novel connection between the gage and the locking rod, constructing the connecting means in such manner that the mere threading or-un- -threading of a wing-nut will operate to secure the gage in ad usted position on the locking arm or will release the gage so that it may be longitudlnally ad usted on the rod 1n order to accommodate cigars of varlous 1 lengths.

A yet further object is to construct the cutting device with such regard to proportion, number and arrangement of parts that it may be cheaply manufactured, will be durable and eflicient in its action, and may be quickly and conveniently employed 1n trimming the ends of cigars of any length wlthin a reasonable range.

The above and additional ob ects are accomplished by such means asare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification, andthen more particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto. and form a part of this application.

With reference to the drawings, wherein there has been illustrated the preferred embodiment of this invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the cutter with its various elements in operative assembled relation; Fig. 2 is a. section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig, 2; Fig. 4: is a detail view of the locking rod and gage, illustrating the several parts of this device in disassembled relation but indicating the manner in which they are assembled to form an operative struc ture; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the connecting bolt by which the gage is adjustably secured to the locking rod.

Proceeding now to the description of the drawings, and with particular reference to Fig. 1 in which the invention is best illustrated as an entirety, it will be observed that the cutter includes broadly a base-block 10,

a bed-lock 11 removably mounted thereon, a fixed and a movable cutting knife respectively designated by the numerals 12 and 13, a cigar receiving channel 14:, and a longitudinally adjustable gage 15 which operates in the cigar channel and to which is operatively connected a locking rod, the extreme forgzard terminal of which is discernible at 3.

The base-block 10 is preferably, although not necessarily, constructed of wood, and may be stained to impart an ornamental appearance. On this base-block is removably mounted the bed-block 11, which is designed to serveas the holder for the cigar and also as a support for the cutting knives and gage. This bed-block may be constructed of wood or a composition should such material be found desirable, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention it is formed of metal. The member 11 is substantially rectangular in shape and consists in a top plate 17, side walls 18 and 19, and end walls 20 and 21. Adjacent the side wall 18 the top plate 17 is enlarged, and is formed with a channel which has been heretofore designated by the numeral 14:. his channel acts as the holder or receiver for the cigars, and, as will be seen upon reference to the drawings, extends longitudinally of the bedblock. The bottom wall of this channel is notch at its upper portion as indicated at 23. A screw. 24 is inserted through the central aperture ofthe plate 17 and is threaded into. a receiving bore formed in. the inner wall 24 of the bed-block. The notch 23 is,

' of course, formed with a sharpened edge,

the lowermost point of which is disposed at a point slightly above the bottom of the cigar receiving channel, as will be readily noted upon referenceto Fig. 1.

The movable. cutting knife 13, which, as

heretofore explained, cooperates with the fixed jaw in trimming the ends of the cigar,

is, as best shown .in Fig. 6, substantially identical tothe fixed knife 12. The member 13 is, however,secured to. the free terminal '1 fixed knife blade 12.

of the pivoted'arm 25. This arm 25 is pivotally mounted at one terminal on a bolt 26 which. is threaded into a receiving bore formed in the end wall 21 remote from the The free terminal of the arm 25 is equipped with a milled nut or disk 27 provided for the obvious purpose of affording the operator of the device a firm grip on themovable knife; The pivotedter- 1 minal of the. arm 25 is normally held with thekni-fe 13 spaced from the knife 12, there being provided for this purpose a leaf spring 28, the rear terminal of which is secured to a screw 29 carried by the side wall '19, the

forwardterminal-of which is inserted in an aperture 30 formed in the portion of the arm 25 which extends beyond the side wall 19. A stop screw 31 is, of course, threaded into the side wall 19. and bears against the upper face of the leaf spring 28 so that the downward movement of the knife 13 and the consequent upward movement of the terminal 32 of the arm 25 can be accomplished only by overcoming the spring. When the arm 25 is in normal elevated position, the shoulder33, which is formed on the lower edge of. the portion 32, is in engagement with thebase member 10 and, consequently, limits the upward swinging movement of the knife 13. A second shoulder 34 is formed on the lower edge of the arm 25 extending approximately at an angle of 45 to the shoulder 33, and is designed to limit the downward swinging movement of the knife 13 by engagement with a stop pin 35 which is carried by the end wall 21, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

In order to normally lock the movable knife-[13 against movement into operative relation to the fixed knife 12, there has been provided, as heretofore explained, a lock- 7 ing rod. This locking rod is, as best shown in Fig. 4, bent intermediate'its length as at 36 to produce an offset forward terminal 37.

37 is mounted for movement through an gminal against the adjacent face of the @bracket lug 38. It will thus be seen that the ;'extreme forward terminal of the member 37 is normally held to project beyond the jouter face :of the wall 21. It will thus be iing rod is normally held in such position *der 34, hold the arm 25 against movement into operative relation to the fixed knife 12.

jmove-the locking rod-16 into lnoperative position when a cigar is placed within the receiving channel .14, the locking rod has, as hereinbefore described, been operatively connected to the gage.15. This. gage 15, as bestillustrated in detail'i n Fig. 4', consists in a-substantially cylindrical body member 41, the forward portion of .which'is recessed, asat 42, to provide a socket which will receive the rear terminal of the cigar. Extending rearwardly from the body portion 41 of the gage is a plate 43 which is a,per tured, as at 44, to receive a connecting bolt '45 by which it is adjustably secured to the locking rodv 36. The lower face ,43. lies in a plane the member 41.for a hereinafter more fully explained. lindrical body member 41 of thegage is adapted for movement through the channel 14. As illustrated in Fig.4, an elongated opening 46 is formed inthe lower terminal above the loweriportion of receive the locking rod. Inconnection with the bolt 45 this invention employs a locking sleeve 47 which is formed with diametrically opposed:.openings adapted also to receive the locking rod 36. r In assembling the bolt and sleeve, the bolt The extreme terminal of this ofiset portion:

fextreme forward terminal, being provided- Elo'cking rod, bearing at its forward terminal jagamst the cotter pm 39 and at 113818211 ter-' that it will, by engagement with the shoul purpose which will be The cyopening formed in the wall 21 of the'bed V 1100 As a means for enabling'the operator to of the plate of the bolt 44, whichopening is adapted to v 95,, jIlOtGCl thatthe forward'terminal of the locki is first inserted 'in'the sleeve to bring the opening 36 into registration with the openings in the side of the sleeve, and the looking rod is then passed through both the bolt and sleeve, as will be discerned upon reference toFig. 3. It will now be noted that the application of the wing nut 48 to the upper threaded terminal of the nut 45 will 0perateto urge the lower face of the plate 43 into engagement with the upper edge of the sleeve 47. At the same time, the threading of the nut onto the bolt 44 will draw the plate upwardly so that the bottom portion of theopening 46will thus be brought into severe frictional engagement with the locking rod, while the upper portion of the openings in the sleeve 47 will be urged downwardly into similar engagement with the upper portion of the locking rod. In other words, the bolt and sleeve will bear against the locking rod, exerting pressure in opposite directions and at diametrically opposite points of the locking rod,thus securely holding the gage in adjusted position on the locking rod. The sleeve 47 is cut-away at diametrically opposite points, as indicated at 49 sothat the upper portion of the sleeve may be moved freely through the slot 22 without engagement with the top plate 17 The actual construction and arrangement of the several parts of the invention being thus described in detail, it now remains to give a brief explanation of the operation of the device. When desiring to trim the end of a cigar, the operator places the article in the receiving channel 14, having first adjusted the gage so that the cigar will be the proper length after it has been trimmed. The rear terminal of the cigar being inserted in the rear socket of the gage, the cigar is moved rearwardlyin the channel 14 with the result that the locking rod 36 is moved rearwardly in the bed-block, withdrawing the terminal 37 from looking position against the tension of the spring 40. When the cigar has thus been moved rearwardly to draw the locking rod into inoperative position, the operator may readily trim the terminal of the cigar by pressing down wardly on the member 27 with the resultant movement of the cutting blade 13 into operative relation to the member 12. It is now to be noted thatthe rearward movement of the locking rod is limited by the engagement of its rear terminal, indicated. at 50 in Fig.

3, with the inner face of the end wall 20. As soon as the knife 13 has passed downwardly a sufficient distance to trim the end of the cigar, it is released and is again fswung back into inoperative position by the spring 39 in the manner heretofore explained. The operator now removes the cigar from the channel 14 and, as has also been hereinbefore described, the spring 40 acts immediately to project the terminal of the ofiset portion 37 of the locking rod beyond the outer face of the wall 21 into such position that it will engage with the shoulder 34 of the arm 25 should an attempt be made to swing this member into operative position.

In order to enable the operator to ascertain the exact length to which the cigar will be cut, a number of characteristics are inscribed on the enlarged portion of the top plate 17 at one side of the receiving channel 14. These characteristics are accompanied by numerals which indicate the distance of the gage from the knife 12. These numerals are advanced along the top plate 17 a suflicient distance to compensate for the rearward movement of the gage after the operator has inserted a cigar into the channel 14, in the manner previously set forth. In explanation of this statement, it may be well to state that the operation of the device is such that if the gage is set, for instance with its forward terminal in transverse alinement with the line adjacent the numeral 4, which indicates four inches, the forward edge of the gage will in reality be only approximately three and three-fourth inches from the knife 12. Thus when a cigar has been applied and the gage has been moved rearwardly through the channel to withdraw the locking rod from looking position, the gage will be moved rearwardly the remaining quarter of an inch so that the scale will have given an accurate estimate of the finished length of the cigar.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of this invention illustrated in the drawings, and referred. to in the above description as the preferred embodiment, is the most efiicient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with the "adoption of this device will necessarily vary,

it is desired to emphasize the fact that vari ous minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

lVhat is claimed is- .1. A cigar cutter including a fixed knife, a movable knife, a lineal gage member, and

means operatively connected to the gage able therewith, and yieldable means for norminal normally projecting into the path of 60.

V for securing the gage into adjusted position on the locklng rod.

;- fixed knife, a movable knife, a lineal gage L a movable knife-,a lineal gage, a locking rod away from the fixed knife.

tion, said'means being operativelyconnected 1 to the gage member and movable longitudinal'ly therewith.

4. A cigar cutter including a bed-block, a

movable longitudinally of the said bed-' block, a locking rod adjustably connectedto; the gage and movable longitudinally of the bed-block, and yieldablemea-ns for normally holding the locking rod in locking relation to the' mo 'vable knife whereby the movable knife is normally locked in inoperative position. 7

5. A cigar cutter including a fixed knife;

adjustably connected tothe gage and movmally holding the locking rod in operative relation to the movable knife, said locking rod'being movable into inoperative position upon the movement of the gage member 6'. A cigar utter including a bed-block having a longitudinally extending clgar receiving channel, a fixed knife mounted at one end of the channel, a movable knife co- 5 operating with the fixed knife, a lineal-gage movable longitudinally in the channel, a locking rod having its terminal projectable into the path of movement of the movable knife, said locking rod being adjustably con-- nected to the gage, and yieldable means for normally holding the locking rod in operative relation to the movable knife.

7. A cigar cutter including a bed-block having a longitudinally extending cigar receiving channel, a fixed knife secured at one end of the channel,- a movable knife pivoted to the said block, and cooperating with the fixed knife, a locking rod slidable longitudi nally in the bed-block, and yieldable means for normally projecting the terminal of the locking rod into the path of movement of the movable knife.

8. A cigar cutter including a bed-block having a longitudinally extending cigar receiving channel, a lineal gage slidable in the channel, a fixed knife secured at one end to the-channel, a movable knife pivoted to the bed-block and cooperating with the fixed knife, and means controlled by the gage for normally locking the movable knife in inoperative position.

9. A cigar'cutter including a base-member, a bed-block removably mounted thereon, a fixed knife, a movable knife, a lineal gage slidable longitudinally on the bed-block, a springspressed locking rod having its termovement of the fixed knife for locking the movable knife agamst movement into operative relation to the fixed knife, and means her, a bed-block removably mounted thereon and having a longitudinally extending cigar receiving channeland a longitudinally exjtend'ing slot formed inthe channel, a fixed knife secured'at one terminal of the channel, .a 'movable'knif'e pivotally connected to the ,bed -block and cooperating with the fixed iknife, a locking rod mounted for sliding[ movement in the bed-block, yieldable means ,for normally projecting the forward termi- Qnal of the locking rod into thepath of move- ,ment of the movable knife, a lineal gage ESllCfitblE 1n the channel, and means for ad- {justably connecting the gageto the locking grod, said means including a sleeve having idiametrically opposed openings receiving ;the locking rod, a bolt insertible in the sleeve and having a transverse bore registering with the openings of the sleeve and receiv- Em-g the locking rod, the upper terminal of lithe bol-tbeing threadedand inserted through ;an opening formed in the gage, and a wing iiut' threaded on the upperterminal of the I olti v 11. A cigar cutter including a movable fknife, a slidable gage member, and means ioperativel'y connected to the gage member for normally locking the knife in} inoperagtive position. v l i 12. A cigar cutter including a 'movable Lknife, a movable gage, slidable locking lmean'sfor lockingthe knife in inoperative position, said means being adjustablyconnected to the gage, and yield'able means norlmallyholdingsaid locking means in looking engagement with the knife.

13. A cigar cutter including a movable knife, spring-pressed means normally lock- ;ing the knife in inoperative position, and a,

:movable' gage member adjustably connected to said means,saidgage being operable for withdrawing the means-from engagement with the knife. 7 V 14. A cigar cutter ncluding a movable knife, a gage'member movable toward and away from the knife, and-yiel'dable means connected to the gage member for normally locking the knife in inoperative position.

15. A cigar cutter including amovable knife, a gage member,"and yieldable means normally locking the knife in inoperative and position, said means being connected to movable with the gage member, k

16. A cigar cutter including a becl block, a fixed knife, a movable knife, a gage mov able longitudinally of the'bed-block, a locking rod connected tothe gage'meniber and movable therewith, and means for normally holding the rod in looking relation tothe movable knife.

v 7125 17. A cigar-cutter includinga movable knife, a gage member movable toward and away from the knife, a locking rod adjustably connected to the gage member, and yieldable means normally holding the rod in locking relation to the knife.

18. A cigar cutter including a base memher, a bed-block having a longitudinally extending slot, a movable knife pivotally connected to the bed-block, a slidable locking rod, yieldable means normally projecting the terminal of the rod into the path of the knife, a gage slidable on the bed-block, and means adjustably connecting the gage and looking rod, said means including a sleeve having diametrically opposed openings receiving the rod, a bolt insertible in the sleeve and having a transverse bore registering with the openings of the sleeve and receiving the locking rod, the upper terminal of the bolt being threaded and insertible through the gage, and a wing-nut threaded on the upper terminal of the bolt.

19. A cigar cutter including a bed-block, a movable knife-pivoted thereto, a locking rod slidably mounted in the bed-block, yieldable means normally holding the terminal of the rod in the path of the knife, a gage slidable on the bed-block, and means for adjustably connecting the gage to the rod, said means including a sleeve having diametrically opposed openings receiving the locking rod, a bolt insertible in the sleeve and having a transverse vertically elongated bore registering with the openings of the sleeve and receiving the locking rod, the upper terminal of the bolt being threaded and insertible through the gage, and a wing-nut threaded on the upper terminal of the bolt and bearing against the upper face of the gage, whereby the nut may be drawn upwardly to move slightly through the sleeve. In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. HARRISON.

i/Vitnesses E. A. SIEBERT, GEORGE BLAESE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). G. 

